Coin chute



F. A. HOYT Feb 9, 1943.

COIN CHUTE Filed Jan. 8, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet;

A T TORNEV Feb- 9 1943- F. A. HoYT 2,310,637

COIN CHUTE Filed Jan, 8, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /4 /A/VENTOR 76 FA. HOVT A T TOR/vw Patented Feb. 9, 19.43

COIN CHUTEv f Frederick A. Hoyt, East Orange, N. J., assignorto Bell Telephone Laboratories,

Incorporated,

NewYork, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application January i8', 1941, SeriakNo. 373,562

4 Claims.

This invention relates to coin chutes, particularly for telephonev coin collectors, and has for an object the provision of meansfor preventing the acceptance of slugs made of magnetic material.

In telephone coin collectors are exemplified in the disclosure of the O. F. Forsberg U. S. Patent 1,043,219, issued November 5, 191.2, it is customary for the subscriber to tentatively deposit a coin when'services are desired,v which coin-y is subsequently collected or refunded depending uponwhether the desired. telephone connection is established. Occasionally; attempts are made tosecure the acceptance of a-slug of magnetic materiall such as an iron disc cr washer.

In accordance with the embodiment l of the invention disclosed in the appended drawings,` a hinged magnet is provided for holding adeposited magnetic slugin a substantially vertical section of the coin chute in suchl an angular position-that the bottom edge of the slug'is directed-towards or partially into a sidewall reject open-ingbut asso-V ciated with this opening is a stop mem-berwhich positively prevents the rejection of theslug when any external force is applied to the slug through the coin passageway. However, manually operated means accessible to the userof the collector are provided which when operated serve first lto' block the genuine coin passage adjacent the lower end of said reject opening and thereafter move the magnet away from the held slug, at the same time removing the stop member to permit the rejection of the released slug through the side Wall opening.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a partial disclosure of theupper hous` ing of a telephone coinv collector of the Forsberg type utilizing one embodiment of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a front view of a coin chute embodying For illustrative purposes it may be assumed that Fig. 1 is a view of the upper portion of a telephone coin collector of th'e type disclcsedin the above-mentioned Forsberg patent-to which reference may be made for details'of its construction and operation.

Mounted on the top wall of theupperrv housing Ill. is. the Vusual coin gauge H containing openings for receivingcoins .of various denominations such` as. nickels andrdimes. after which a deposited coin traverses aniindividual channel in a coin chute assembly l2y and strikes a suitable sound signal beforey reaching a coinhopper where th'e coin is held Iin suspense for subsequent collection or refund depending upon conditions occurring after coin deposit. The path taken by a genuine nickel or dime in traversing the coin chute is shown in Fig. 3. Thenickel and dime channels lie between two parallel platesv i3 and I4 and are dened by ledges which guide each coin through th'e chute in the proper manner. thi'scoin channel at the upper end of the coin chute to initiall-'yffollow a-path dened onone sideby ledges l5, l5 and on'the other side by ledges I9 and` It. The deposited nickel rst drops substantially vertically'past a magnetic slug rejector (to he described later) after which' the coin rolls down'theilongitudinally inclined ledge Il to passthrough 'the field of anV eddy-current magnet t8 withsuillcient velocityl to leap to the right of dividing point 20 and strike the reversely inclined ledge 2 l lower edge of a` bell 24 and then drop out of the chute into the usual coin hopper.

The initial portion of the dime runway is defined by ledges 25, 26 where the coin drops substantially'vertically past a magnetic slug rejector (to be described later)y and then rolls down the knowrrin the art and does not' constitute a part` of the present invention.

The present invention/is primarily concerned with the rejectionof magnetic slugs from theI nickel' and dime runways of the coin chute of Figs. 2 and 3. Referring particularly to Fig. 2, the front plate I4 of the chute near the coin entrance contains a large aperture A which for the dimerunway extends downwardly frorna point just below a pair of lugs 29, 39 to an outwardly turned lip 34 and which for the nickel runway extends downwardly from a point just below A deposited nickel entersy The coin'then follows the channel poi--V tionflying .between ledges 22 and 23 to strikethe posite the dime runway and arm 42 being opposite the nickel runway. Suitably supported on the rear face of arm 42 by means of lugs 45 is a U-shaped permanent'magnet 46 (Figs. 4, 5 and 6); and similarly arm 4| supports between lugs 41 a U-shaped permanent magnet for the dime runway although the dime magnet is not shown in Fig. 2. Also pivoted on pin 33 is a stripper plate 50 having a downwardly extending arm 48 lying between the nickel runway and the nickel magnet 46, and a second downwardly extending arm 49 lying between the dime runway and the dime magnet. Extending forwardly and downwardly from the upper edge of aperture A are stationary arms 53, 54, 55, 56 which act as stops for the stripper plate 50 in its movement away from the coin runway. The magnet carrying plate 40 is biased to its normal position of Fig. 4 by any suitable means such as a coiled spring 51 of Fig. 2 whereby the lateral extensions 82 and 85 of arms 42 and 4| are normally held in engagement with the outer face of coin chute plate I4.

The other plate I3 of the coin chute assembly suitably supports a horizontal pin 53 about which is pivoted a member 59 which near its upper end carries an arcuate-shaped arm 59 the free end of which is adapted to enter slots in plates I3, I4 (see aperture 6|, Fig. 3 )to engage portion 84 of the magnet carrying plate 40. Also pivoted about pin 58 is a second member 64 which near its upper end has two laterally projecting arms 65, 66, arm 65 being adapted to enter slot 61 in plate I3 to block the nickel runway immediately above or opposite lip 35 and the other arm 66 being adapted to enter slot 68 in plate I3 to block the dime runway immediately above or opposite lip 34.

Members 59 and 64 are biased to their normal positions of Fig. 4 by a leaf spring 1|, the lower end of which is fastened to member 59 at a point adjacent pin 58 by rivets 12, the said spring having one arm 13 resting against plate I3 with a second arm 14 resting against member 64. The tension of spring 1| is such as to normally maintain member 59 in its position of Fig. 4 with the lower end 15 of member 59 pressing the lower end 16 of member 64 against plate I3, thereby normally overcoming the tendency of leaf spring 14 to force blocking arms 55, 66 into the coin runways.

'Ihe manual movement of members 59, 64 from their normal positions of Fig. 4 is secured by a push button 11 mounted on a vertical wall 18 of the upper housing as shown in Fig. '1. Button 11 is suitably connected by means, as shown,

to a pivoted arm 19 normally accompanying its' position of Fig. '1 but which is adapted upon actuation of push button 11 t0 be moved into engagement with member 59 at a point substantially above pivoting pin 58 as indicated in Figs. 4 to 6.

The sectional views shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 illustrate the operation of the nickel magnetic slug rejector and it may be assumed that the operation is similar for the dime runway. When a genuine nickel is deposited in the nickel opening of coin gauge I| all the movable parts of the magnetic slug rejector remain in their normal positions as shown in Fig. 4 and the deposited nickel falls freely-past the magnetic slug trap to follow the path previously described whereby the nickel strikes the lower edge of bell 24 before moving to an exit opening at the bottom of the chute assembly. However, if a magnetic slug such as slug 8| is deposited in the nickel opening in coin gauge the slug 8| is attracted by magnet 45 so that the bottom edge of the slug is pulled out of the runway to the left of lip as seen in Fig. 5. It will be noted that the magnet supporting plate 49 by means of spring 51 is biased t0 a position in which its lateral arm 82 engages plate I4 immediately below lip 35 whereby arm 82 acts as a stop to prevent further downward movement of the partially rejected slug. Although slug 8| is shown in Fig. 5 with its lower edge supported by stop 82 it is to be understood that the strength of magnet 46 may be sufficient to hold slug 8| in a slightly higher position than that indicated in Fig. 5, in which event the lower edge of the slug while being directed towards reject opening A would not actually be in contact with stop 82. After a magnetic slug has been deposited the chute can be cleared for the acceptance of a genuine coin only by the operation of push button 11 to cause its arm 19 to move to the left as viewed in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 to engage pivoted member 59 and move member 59 from its position of Fig. 4 to its position of Fig. 6. In the initial movement of member 59 the magnet carrying plate is not disturbed but with the disengagement of end 15 from end 16 of member 64 the biasing spring 14 becomes free to force member 64 from its position of Fig. 4 to a position in which lugs 65, G5 enter the nickel and dime runways, respectively, to block the entrances to the genuine coin channels at a point slightly above lips 35 and 34, as shown in Fig. 5. After these lugs B5 and 65 have reached a coin blocking position the continued movement of arm 50 causes its free end to engage extension 84 of plate 40 whereby the magnet carrying plate 49 is rocked about its pin 33 from its position of Fig. 4 to its position of Fig. 6. This carries magnet 46 far enough from the coin runway to release slug 8| from the magnetic attraction and since stop 32 is simultaneously removed by this movement, slug 8| is now free to fall out of the chute for rejection as indicated in Fig. 6. The stripping plate 50 is preferably made of spring material of such a configuration that its extension 48 is biased to engage stops 55, 55 as indicated in Fig. 6 but is normally held in its position of Fig. 4 by engagement with the pole faces of magnet 46. Hence, with the removal of th'e magnet carrying plate 49 from its position of Fig. 4 to its position of Fig. 6 the stripper plate 48 moves against stops 55, 55 to give the slug 8| ample room for rejection.

The slug rejector above described is also effective to prevent the acceptance of a second iron slug 83 (Fig. 5) deposited after the rst slug 8| and followed by the operation of push button 11. The second slug 83 will be held in the position shown in Fig. 5 since the coin chute is blocked by the rst slug 8|. If now the push button 11 is operated to remove magnet the rst slug 8| will be released andrejected as previously de scribed While the second slug 83 will drop downwardly until it strikes stop member 65 whereby slug 33 will also be deflected through aperture A for rejection.

The rejection of a magnetic slug from the dime runway is accomplished in the same manner as described above for the nickel runway since plate t0 carries both the nickel magnet 46 and the corresponding dime magnet, and since the operation of push button 'H first blocks both the nickel and dime runways at a point just above the lower edge of aperture A and then releases any magnetic slug held in either the nickel or dime runways. In this connection it may be noted that the dime magnet supporting plate lll has a laterally directed arm 86 which functions in the same manner as arm 82 to prevent the complete rejection of a dime slug from the chute until the push button 11 has been operated.

What is claimed is:

1. In a coin collector, a substantially vertically arranged coin runway section down which a deposited coin falls substantially vertically, said section being dened by opposed side walls, one of said walls having an aperture of sufficient size to permit a coin of standard diameter to be discharged therethrough, a permanent magnet, hinged means biased to support said magnet adjacent said aperture for holding a deposited magnetic slug in a position in which said slug projects partially through said aperture, said other side wall having a slot adjacent the lower edge of said aperture, a pivoted member adapted to enter said slot to block said runway but biased to a non-blocking position, manually operated means adapted to be moved from a normal position to an advanced position, means actuated by said manually operated means in the initial advancement of said manually operated means for moving said member to said coin blocking position, and means actuated by said manually operated means and effective upon further advancement of said manually operated means for moving said magnet to a position releasing said slug.

2. In a coin collector, a substantially vertically arranged coin runway section down which a deposited coin falls .substantially vertically, said section being defined by opposed side walls, one of said walls having an aperture of sufficient size to permit a coin of standard diameter to be discharged therethrough, a permanent magnet, hinged means biased to support said magnet adjacent said aperture for holding a deposited magnetic slug in a position directing the bottom edge of said slug toward said aperture, an arm on said hinged means normally blocking the passage of said slug through said aperture, said other side wall having a slot adjacent the lower edge of said aperture, a pivoted member adapted to enter said slot to block said runway but biased to a non-blocking position and manually operated means for rst actuating said member to its runway blocking position and for subsequently moving said magnet to a position releasing said slug after said member has reached its runway blocking position.

3. In a coin collector, a substantially vertically arranged coin runway section down which a deposited coin falls substantially vertically, said section being dened by opposed side walls, one

of said walls having an aperture of suicient size to permit a coin of standard diameter to be discharged therethrough, a permanent magnet, hinged means biased to support said magnet adjacent said aperture for holding a deposited magnetic slug in said runway opposite said aperture, a pivoted stripper plate lying between said magnet and a slug held in said runway by said magnet, said plate being biased for movement away from said aperture butl normally held by said magnet in a position partially closing said aperture, said other side wall having a slot adjacent the lower edge of said aperture, a pivoted member adapted to enter said slot to block said runway but biased to a non-blocking position, manually operated means, means actuated by said manually operated means for rst moving said member to its runway blocking position and subsequently moving said magnet away from said runway.

4. In a coin collector, a substantially vertically arranged coin runway section down which a deposited coin falls substantially vertically, said section being defined by opposed side walls, one of said walls having an aperture of suiiicient size to permit a coin of standard diameter to be discharged therethrough, a permanent magnet, hinged means biased to support said magnet adjacent said aperture for holding a deposited magnetic slug in said runway opposite said aperture, a pivoted stripper plate lying between said magnet and a slug held in said runway by said magnet, said plate being biased for movement away from said aperture but normally held by said magnet in a position partially closing said aperture, a stop for limiting the movement of said plate away from said aperture upon removal of said magnet, an arm on said hinged means cooperating with said plate to prevent a magnetic slug from being forced through said aperture when said magnet is in its slug holding position, said other side wall having a slot adjacent the lower edge of said aperture, a pivoted member adapted to enter said slot, to block said runway but biased to a non-blocking position, manually operated means adapted to be moved from a normal position to an advanced position, means actuated by said manually operated means and effective upon the initial movement of said manually operated means from its normal position for moving said member to its runway blocking position, and other means actuated by said manually operated means and effective upon further advancement of said manually operated means for moving said magnet away from said aperture to release said slug.

FREDERICK A. I-IOYT. 

